“If there should ... be a need to refill an essential position, it must be for the public safety or health of our residents,” Rossi wrote. “Any request to hire must be approved by the mayor’s office.”

In addition, “There is a strict spending freeze in place and only those essential items required to carry out the city’s mission and legislative responsibilities should be processed,” the memo states. “All expenditures must be approved by the department head and those over $500 must be approved by the mayor’s office until further notice.”

With regard to overtime, Rossi wrote, “There is to be no overtime authorized unless approved by the department head and mayor’s office. In an emergency situation, overtime may be approved and followed by a written report explaining the nature of the emergency and the reason for the overtime.

“There will be absolutely no exceptions to this directive,” the memo states.

Rossi, West Haven’s 12th mayor and the first woman to hold the job, defeated former incumbent Mayor Ed O’Brien twice — in a Sept. 12 Democratic primary and again in the Nov. 7 election after O’Brien ran a write-in campaign.

While Rossi has no direct control over how the Board of Education spends its money, “I am respectfully requesting that the Board of Education institute a similar set of cost-saving measures to curb and control spending and overtime,” Rossi wrote.

Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro said of that request, “I think we do a pretty good job of monitoring and regulating overtime and watching our spending habits here.”

But he added, “we institute a spending freeze every year around this time” just to make sure the school systems isn’t overspending its budget.

“So, yes,” he said when asked if the board is likely to comply with Rossi’s request.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that we’ve done what we can, in understanding the city’s financial problems, to assist in any way we can,” Cavallaro said.